Current Events and Updates of the Ministry

So very much has happened since my last posting that I am finding it difficult to know where to start and what to include. However, let me simply begin and see what happens…

Theresa and I arrived back in Canada in the latter part of July after an energetic and fulfilling time with our children and grand children in both Japan and China. While back in Manitoba we were able to spend a little time with our family and friends there before turning the wheels south again.

 We arrived to a very hot Cd. Valles on Saturday, August 17^th in the early evening after a very quiet and uneventful trip from the border. From what we have personally seen, and from all the reports that we have been receiving, things in Mexico have become mercifully quiet again. Apparently incidents still do take place in some of the larger cities, but by and large things have calmed down in most areas of the country. This is wonderful news for all of us.

We were able to arrange the trip from Canada in such a way that we could briefly visit

Theresa’s mother as well as churches and friends along the way. We were blessed to be able to spend some time with our good friends J.W. and Mary in Gladewater, Texas as well as with brothers and sisters at New Song Church in Grove, Oklahoma. Not only do we share many years of friendship, but Pastor Marty Dyer and the rest of the leadership there continue to share the vision of the work of Voice in the Wilderness. Further, New Song Church remains our legal and spiritual cover in the United States. Our time there was a genuine blessing.

While in Grove we stayed with our long-time friends Alvin and Margaret Lee. These seasoned warriors of the Gospel and veteran missionaries never cease to bless us with their young hearts despite the fact that their bodies may belie this youthfulness. Though both in their eighties they exhibit a full measure of the spirit of Caleb; “I am still as strong today…I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this mountain that the Lord promised me that day.” I pray that God will give me the strength and endurance to be as energetic when I reach their age. While staying with them, Alvin gave me a copy of a wonderful floor plan for a small staff house – more about this latter in the blog.

While in Grove we also met with two people interested in the work in Cd. Valles, and who possibly will be coming down in the early part of 2014 to spend some time with us. We continue to pray that God will lay it on people’s hearts to link in with the work of the ministry and come to help us.

William Cowper wrote “God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform”. This remains as true today as it was in 1774 when the words were penned. Without using names and specifics because everything still remains too premature to do so, I want to bring you up to date with a rather miraculous event (at least in my opinion). While still in Manitoba I was going through old ministry letters that I had filed away into folders going back into the early years of the work that Dr. Heinlein and I were involved with over the years. (My intention in doing so incidentally, is to have archived letters posted on the VitW Ministries website so that there can be an historical continuity of the work from its inception until today. The letters are now collected and will be placed onto the site as soon as Jason Funk, our fearless webmaster can do so). So, back to the incident at hand – I was sorting my way through old letters and notes and came across a series of emailed letters dating from 2004 in which a friend was corresponding for my father with a friend of my father concerning the matter of Bible School curriculum in Spanish for the then-fledgling Bible School work which was just beginning in Cd. Valles. This particular missionary was at that time running a Bible School in Guatemala.

The nine year old letter piqued my interest and I wondered if I could still find this

missionary, and if God had a purpose in allowing me to find this old correspondence. After a number of attempts I was able to locate the missionary who now serves in Costa Rica, as well as the organization under which he and his wife minister. One of the purposes of this organization is to provide curriculum and covering for Bible Institutes and schools around the world, and they have complete curriculum in Spanish. I have had some very interesting conversations with their office in Florida and we are praying to see if this is the fit that we have been looking for, and which we have been asking God to provide. Incidentally, when I asked my mother if she knew who these people were she gave a very affirmative response and told me that their grand parents and parents had been fellow missionaries with mine in northern Ontario during the early days of the ministry there. It is a curiously small world – connections that span from northern Canada to Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras, and that might ultimately bear fruit in central Mexico. Hmm, I wonder if this is what God is putting together, or is it just a very interesting coincidence. Please pray with us about this as we seek to know what He wants us to do concerning this pressing need. Again, because things are too premature to give names or details at this time I ask you to forgive the rather nebulous information that I am giving, and simply pray that God will make things clear as to how we should proceed with the need for academic and curricular covering for the schools.

When Theresa and I arrived on Saturday evening we had hoped for at least a couple of days to catch our breath and get the house shovelled out and readied to live in again. After an extended absence there is always an incredible accumulation of dust and dirt, as well as dead insects (and potentially other critters) that seem to find their way into the house and amass in heaps around the place. Despite our well laid our plans for a “bit of time” we hit the ground running hard.

After attending the local service at Esfuerzo Magdiel the following morning we were visited in the afternoon by Javier Santos, the director of the farm Training Center. He explained that the pressing need is to get the newly cleared area of land “seeded” into sugarcane immediately because it is now cultivated and ready. Besides, there has been very poor rainfall again this year, however it did rain only several days ago and the soil is still wet enough to make the conditions excellent for planting. But, he explained, we need to find “seed” sugarcane. So, that same evening we went to visit a Christian friend of ours who grows sugarcane and had promised us seed when we need it. When we visited him at his home he explained that he, like all of the rest of us, is finding that the sugarcane is growing very slowly this year because of the dry conditions and that he has no sugarcane mature enough to cut for “seed”. He explained that he himself needs seed cane, and doesn’t have any to plant even his own fields.

 On Monday morning we began at first light to go around looking for growers who might

have sugarcane to sell us enough “seed” to plant the approximately ¾ hectare area that still needed to be completed. We finally did find a local farmer who would sell us the needed seed at a reasonable price.  We then began the ordeal of looking for workers who would be able to assist us in the cutting and planting. We encountered three men who told us that they would be ready to work in the morning.

Let me explain a little bit about how sugarcane is grown. Although I am far from an expert, I do know more about it than I did two years ago. Sugarcane is a perennial crop, and once planted it will grow from within the root mass for quite a few years, depending upon the conditions of the soil, the rainfall, the amount of fertilizer given, general tending, etc. It is planted by cutting stalks of sugarcane and laying them lengthwise in furrows and then covering the stalks with several inches of soil. In order to assure good germination it is best to plant the stalks double, although many people cheat and plant them singly, or simply slightly overlapping in the furrows. The new plants germinate from the “joints” in the sugarcane stalks. “Seed” cane should be either first year growth, or at least not old and woody or too mature.

Tuesday began at dawn in cutting the cane for seeding. We cut, loaded, and then hauled it to our field with our trailer and then began to plant. We managed to plant approximately 2/3 of the field by 2:00 o’clock at which time all of us were practically dropping dead from exhaustion and the 120 degree heat that we were labouring in. On Wednesday we finished cutting the seed and planting the field. We then needed to walk along the furrows with a machete and cut the double rowed stalks into shorter segments so that they would not curve and pull the stalks out of the dirt as they dried after planting. At that point each furrow needed to be closed in with soil, and all of the cane stalks covered.

But God gave us a big blessing. On Monday we had discovered that a local man had a horse and single plough that he used to do field work. We could hire him for $350 pesos (about $30.00 dollars) to cover over the furrows, thus eliminating much of the labour intensive hand work of doing so. Hiring him was an easy decision on my part. We still needed to hand-cover some of the missed areas after the ploughing, but this part of the planting was made much easier with Mr. Horse. Thursday completely finished the work of planting, cutting, and covering the seed. We are now ready for rain. This also means that 100% of what we wanted to place into sugarcane is now planted. Of course, there remains the never ending battle with cleaning the sugarcane as well as the need to replant about a 2 hectare area that came in very poorly last year. But for now we can take a deep breath for a minute or two.

Today, Friday, involved getting a hired tractor out to the field in the morning in order to cut

a ditch along our land frontage because a number of men from the community down the road were complaining that water would run from our field onto the road and might destroy it. It is interesting to me that they are not demanding the same of anyone else along the road, and the neighbouring farms certainly seem in no better condition than ours was. Nonetheless, in order to keep peace we hired a tractor and blade to cut a ditch and berm.

Upon getting back from the fieldwork at about noon today I found out that a friend had passed away last night and the funeral was this afternoon. So, this afternoon we buried a friend, and I am now finding a couple of minutes to try to put together something for a blog entry.

During this whole week Theresa has been equally busy. Her work however, has focused on the house. As I already mentioned, there always is an incredible amount of cleaning that needs to be done when we return after being away for some time. Actually, it needs to be done constantly at all times because the wind-blown dust always seems to have everything covered with grit and dirt. It is just that when it has a chance to accumulate, even in a closed house, the results can be a bit overwhelming. Theresa’s week has been non-stop cleaning and organizing the house again. Finally today she is able to slow down a little and take a bit of a breather (around attending the funeral that is).

We are so blessed to find the condition of the ministry after having been gone for several months. The national men and women that have been placed into the various areas of leadership have been extremely faithful to the vision. The Bible Institute and Project L.A.M.B.S. are both flourishing and going strong. Both are blessed with strong leadership. Javier Santos has worked very hard on the farm over the summer. The sugarcane looks good. He has planted maize and squash throughout the area around the building site so that the soil there is utilized and will not simply go into weed cover again. Cristina, Javier’s wife has continued on with the sewing school and helped the women take on custom sewing work making school uniforms, children’s clothing, custom bags, etc. These, remember, are women who only months ago had never operated a sewing machine. Now we are looking at the real possibility of trying to assist some of them in setting up a small production area so that they can help to supplement their home income with their sewing skills. Theresa is rightfully ecstatic with the level of competence that has been developed, and with the confidence with which the women now take on special orders of work. Most importantly though is that the vision of each of the leaders has remained true and strong. There is a single, God-centered focus in each of them for the advancement of His Kingdom through the work. None of them are looking for self glorification or self serving, but rather that God will be honoured through their labour.

This blog is getting very long, but there is still so much to tell. I will try to be quick.

We are still in desperate need for a small house on the landsite for a national staff couple. In the first place, we cannot store anything at the farm, nor in fact grow anything there other than sugarcane until we have someone living on site. But, even more importantly, we

cannot begin any missionary training ministry on the farm until we have a place for staff to live. Of course, we will soon thereafter need a place for the discipleship students to live as well. But the first and extremely pressing need is for a small house for staff. We already have the “galera” – a 30’ X 30’ metal pole shed with metal roof. Our plans are to use this structure to create the first staff house. The pole shed will be divided in half. Half becoming a staff house, and the remainder being closed off for tractor and implement storage as well as for a locked storage shed for farm tools and equipment. I mentioned earlier that Alvin Lee gave me floor plans for a building that will fit perfectly into the space limitations of the existing building and that will still be a very nice and comfortable house for ministry staff. Now we simply need money to begin. This need is urgent.

We also need money to have a well drilled for water. We know that there is water on the property. There is a drilling crew in the area that is urging us to begin. We desperately need a secure source of water for the Training Center and, potentially for irrigation of gardens and the farm itself. But we need somewhere between four or five thousand dollars to have the well drilled and casing placed. We are desperately praying that God will provide someone who will be willing to provide the needed funds so that a well can be drilled very soon. Once again, as with the staff house, no missionary training ministry can take place without water. Without a well we will be limited to hauling everything in by the tank load

We have been blessed with a now full holding pond of water where there was only a large hole several months ago. We have yet to see how long it will last when the full-on dry season begins. However, now with the rains, even if unseasonably low, the hole is full to the brim. We are even thinking that we should try to plant some fish in the pond to see if they will be able to grow. If nothing else, we would have very happy and fat neighbours if the fish did take to the pond and if the water does last throughout the dry season. However, this water is muddy and full of farm runoff and will never be potable. A good source of drinking water is still necessary.

We are still desperately in need of the disc that is sitting at the border. We have now been waiting for ten months for paperwork that has bogged down into absolute immobility. There seemed to be nothing that we could do to break the stalemate that has ground the process to a dead halt. But now, perhaps, at long last, maybe there is a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. The fat lady has not yet sung, and I don’t want to count the proverbial chicks before they are hatched as I too often have had my hopes dashed in the past by doing so. However, God is still in control, and it appears as if there may be a way to get it through the border after all. I will certainly keep you up to date on this. The little disc would make a HUGE difference to the constant battle that we continually fight with the grasses and other weeds on the farm. Please pray that God will break the impasse that has frustrated us for the past ten months.

In the last blog I mentioned that the drop in the price of sugarcane this past year will hit us very hard. It now looks like we will receive something in the second harvest payout after all, however nothing like what we were expecting to get. The price now seems to have been set at $480 pesos per ton of sugarcane, down from the $600 and something that was expected. This kind of a drop in income will really hurt us as well as every small cane grower in the country.    

There is a good possibility that there will be a couple of work teams arriving to help us build in the winter. Denis Keating and a number of other friends from Manitoba are hoping to come down in February sometime in order to put in a septic tank and field for the Training Center. Also around that same time Fred Erb is hoping to bring a team from Listowel Community Church to begin on a building project. Neither of these is set in stone, and both teams will need to find the funds to do so. If you are willing to help with funds for either of these work teams please let me know. It is not easy to bring a group of people onto the mission field as well as providing the funds needed to complete the work project for which they are coming.

And then finally, just a note of praise, and a little twist of God’s sense of humour; about a month before we returned to Mexico I received an email from Miguel Iglesias, the former pastor of the church in the Reynosa penitentiary were we both were fellow inmates some years ago (if you don’t have a clue what I am talking about then I invite you to look up the June 11, 2010 blog entitled “Today We Met The Apostle Paul”. Also I invite you to read the article written by Grace Fox for “Power For Living” which appeared in their June 28, 2009 publication. To read the article by Grace Fox simply click onto the following red letters “Prison Experience” or go to the tab at the top of the website with the same name).

While at the border Theresa and I looked up Miguel to see how he is doing, and to see what God has placed upon his heart how. He had already spoken to me about a mutual doctor friend, also a former inmate of the same penitentiary while Miguel and I were there, who is now serving the Lord in Mexico doing medical clinics. Miguel was wondering if I still have any connections with sources of basic medicines so that the medical ministry of this Christian doctor can continue. There are still many details to be worked out, and I explained that if I am in any way able to help out in the acquisition of medicines my help would end well within the Texas border, and that I now do not cross into Mexico with even an aspirin let alone any other medications. Period. Case closed! Still, it will be curious to see where God leads us in this. Wouldn’t it be kind of cool if God brought this whole thing full circle, and I continue again where God first had me begin back in the late 90’s? I think that God likes to rattle our little secure cages from time to time. We will see where this whole thing goes.

Well, I do need to close before you fall asleep. There has been so much to say, and so much to bring you up to date on. The journey is exciting, and the ride both exhilarating and at times breathtaking. But God is good.

We need your prayers. Please remember to pray for us. We need finances desperately to continue in the vision that God is making so plain. We need personnel, both national and expatriate to help us in the ministry. And we need your continued love and support.

May the blessing of the Lord rest upon you. We bless you in the name of the Lord.

Steven and Theresa

 

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 24th, 2013 at 10:54 am and is filed under VitW Blog.